sustainability

SU Zipcar use triples in the past 18 months
By Erin Carson
December 1, 2011 - 12:04am
Students and faculty are utilizing Zipcars a lot more than when they first arrived on campus, which is not only better for the environment, but it's economical, too.

You may have places to be and things to do, but you don’t necessarily have to have your own car (or a Centro pass) to do them.

In the past 18 months, the number of people registered for Syracuse’s Zipcars car sharing program tripled, bringing the number of members up to 1,150. Of that group, 1,077 are students.

Rick Martin of SU’s Department of Sustainability attributes the success to people catching onto the idea that they can use the Zipcars and not necessarily have to depend on having cars of their own on campus, whether it’s students, faculty or staff.

Increased pedaling due to more than just nice weather
By Michele Maciejewski
October 28, 2011 - 4:07pm
While Syracuse has had its share of warm weather this fall, that is not the only reason for increased bikes on campus.

Twenty years ago, Syracuse University had around 30 bike racks. Today, bikers in the university community can choose to park at one of 238 locations throughout the main and south campuses, according to James Thompson, manager of crime prevention for the SU Department of Public Safety. On busy days, bikers have also helped themselves to various railings, sign posts and fences to lock up to.

Two campus buildings receive LEED gold, platinum ratings
By Michele Maciejewski
October 12, 2011 - 10:32am
Two SU buildings received the campus' first LEED certifications from U.S. Green Building Council founder Monday.

The founding chairperson of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Richard Fedrizzi, blew into town Monday and handed out Leadership in Energy and Environmental Designs, aka LEED, certifications like they were candy. Well, not really since Syracuse University staff and administrators, architects, builders and community supporters worked really hard for nearly 3 years to get the buildings up to the USGBC standards.

Bottles suffer blow as colleges begin to ban them
By Michele Maciejewski
October 1, 2011 - 1:10pm
As Vancouver Island University prepares to ban bottled water from its campuses, here's a look at how SU battles the bottle.

Vancouver, BC is known for Hollywood movie-making and “BC Buds.” Add to that list the move to ban unsustainable uses of non-renewable resources like plastic.

Green roofs spring up all over Syracuse
By Michele Maciejewski
September 17, 2011 - 6:06pm
The Syracuse Center of Excellence, SUNY ESF, as well as a lot of other local universities and organizations, joined forces to continue the growing movement of constructing green roofs.